Chapter 8

It is not surprising that Huhne, Debbie, the DC, found the note if you consider her background. I do consider it, of course. That is one of the other important things about research. My own research, for me, not for Luke. Know your enemies. This does not mean taking them out for coffee. Nor does it mean entering into sexual relations with them, whatever my plans for Nicole. No, it means find out all about them. Their strengths, their weaknesses, their likes, dislikes. Likes are pretty easy these days if you have Facebook. You can see what anyone gives the thumbs up.

I load up Firefox on Adam and Nicole’s big Mac. Or rather, Adam’s. It was another Helen inheritance gift. I have a quick look at my news feed to see if my select group of friends are doing anything. No. The two Nigerian guys who befriended me have been pretty quiet after I turned down their request for money. And Adam never says much any more. Helen says even less.

I see that Debbie Huhne ‘Likes’ the Metropolitan Police, ‘The Bill’, The London Transport Police, ‘The Thin Blue Line’, ‘Cagney and Lacey’ and ‘K9’. She also likes both Arsenal and Tottenham. And also Chelsea. There is a contact number: 101. The Met’s non-emergency number. A friendly person to call to report a crime, who caters for all.

A general Google search should give me more of a sense of the real woman. But it doesn’t. She is apparently more of a machine. Local press articles say she was promoted earlier than her colleagues, fast-tracked, loved by her community, valued by her friends. A kind of living obituary. A careerist who cares. I wonder, though, why there is so much coverage of her. Successful she may be, but until quite recently she was just an ordinary policeman. I search again, this time for Debbie Huhne PC and daughter.

I find more of a measure of her this time. At first, though, it’s not clear whether it’s a strength or a weakness. Ultimately, I fear it may be a strength. The reason there is so much press adoration for her is this: policewoman’s husband and daughter murdered. Death of local man and girl leaves behind double grief for PC Debbie Huhne.

It wasn’t an ordinary sort of murder, though. It was a hit and run.

Which makes it very unlikely that DC Huhne will give up the first case, the Helen case. And if she listens to Nicole, it’s very unlikely she’ll give up on me.

That’s enough about Huhne. I Google Ally, to see if there are already any conspiracy theories on the Internet. Anything linking Luke or me to her. There are 10,000 results. But I don’t have time to check them, because I hear the front door open. Adam. I shut down Firefox and turn off the TV. He doesn’t need to know my interests, the way I suffer, for my method. For him, for Luke, for me. He just needs to know the results. My art. I must continue. Despite Huhne, despite Ally, I must persevere.